Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Ai WeiWei at Alcatraz

I was lucky enough to see this installation in March at Alcatraz Island, a short boat ride away from San Francisco.  In selecting these, I was reminded of the Polidori photos we examined in class.
Abandon all hope (of escape) ye who enter here

Ai WeiWei fashioned these delicate porcelain flowers 
for exhibit in the Psych ward.  This area is normally closed to visitors.

Enter this cell to hear Pete Seegar singing the ballad of Victor Jara

Protest songs, political poetry and speeches can be heard in the solitary confinement cells.

The guards planted flowers and vegetables. That tradition continues.


This is the third phase of the installation, located in the factory building

The fourth phase: these portraits are made of legos assembled by volunteers


to Ai WeiWei's specifications.  He was not allowed to leave China to oversee the installation. 

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1 comment:

  1. BarbaraNovember 18, 2015 at 1:23 PM

    I'm glad you posted this and were able to see it.

    In terms of re-purposed exhibition space, Zoe Strauss "showed her photographic works once a year in a public space beneath an I-95 highway overpass in South Philadelphia. In these annual one-day exhibitions, Strauss mounted her color photographs to the concrete bridge supports and viewers could buy photocopies for five dollars." From http://www.icp.org/exhibitions/zoe-strauss-10-years

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